THE HARSH REALITY: DESENSITISATION TRAINING CAN WORSEN SEPARATION ANXIETY IN DOGS

Why? Well, one size does NOT fit all, and dogs with true separation anxiety are just one step away from panic mode most of the time.

One commonly touted method is desensitisation. Let’s think about what happens when you try to desensitise the cues that you’re leaving by picking up your keys and putting them down again…

Human: touches keys
Dog: are you going out now?
Human: moves away from keys
Dog: Phew!

5 minutes later…

Human: picks up keys
Dog: are you going out now?
Human: moves away from keys
Dog: Oh thank goodness for that!

Half an hour later:

Human: picks up keys
Dog: wait, what, are you going out now?

…every time the human touches or picks up the keys, the dog is in a heightened state of anxiety. Are you going out now? How about now? Maybe now? What about now?

What’s happening here is that the dog is never getting time to switch off. S/he’s constantly vigilant, constantly anxious, constantly on the verge of panic.

Even if the dog does manage to learn that picking up keys doesn’t equal being left alone, they’ll find another cue instead.

And every time the human does go out, each and every failure re-traumatises the dog.

SO WHAT DO WE DO INSTEAD?

Well, we need to focus first and foremost on building up your dog’s confidence and curiosity. We need to eliminate the anxiety so that your velcro dog can cope alone.

Most of all, every absence must be the dog’s choice so that re-traumatisation doesn’t happen, learning sticks and progress gets made.

It’s a simple process. It’s all done through connection.

Reconnect your dog to themselves, to their emotions, to their calmness.
Stop training and start working on mindset for both you and your dog.
Change what you’re doing, moderate and soften the flow of information and allow your dog to make choices.

It’s a simple process, and it’s all about connection.

Reach out if you want to learn more.